Thread topic may seem bit generic but I'd like to get some help on polygon modeling inside Houdini.
I am in real-time industry (apps and games), I fell in love with the procedural side of Houdini and now I am experimenting if Houdini could also become my main modelling tool. Ideally I would like to fit it into Zbrush and Substance Painter pipeline.
Right now I am trying to create high poly version of a real world item to learn how Houdini does things.

Bear with me as some questions may be pretty basic. For the past 15+ years I've been modeling using 3ds Max and I am used to do things its way.

To start things off:
1. How can I move the selected polygons in X axis so the green edges are alligned with the blue vertex?



2. Is it possible to constrain the movement to only one axis or plane without having to click exactly on the transform handle?
While searching the documentation I found the section about using the middle mouse button (https://www.sidefx.com/docs/houdini/basics/handles.html) but I can't get it to work.

Cheers,
St.

I also found this one:
https://forums.odforce.net/topic/4991-transformations-in-one-plane/ [forums.odforce.net]
where CTRL-Click on handle should help me somehow, but I also can't get it to work.
I'd appreciate a walkthrough.

St.

Hi,
For 1 - go Edit>Hotkeys and select “Houdini” in the Context tab. Then, in the search box type “volatile handle-geometry detached mode” and assign a hotkey to it. I personally use ‘X’ as I don't make use of the default radial menu and it's close to the left hand and all that, but you can use w/e you prefer.

With those polys selected, hold ‘X’ (because it's transient) and ctrl+LMB on the upper right point of that green line to snap-translate the handle. (for orientation alignment shift+LMB and for both, simple LMB). Activate point snapping, click&hold on the x-axis while dragging it “over” the point marked in blue in your image.

For 2 - go to Edit>Preferences>Handles>Allow indirect handle with MMB and select “Map drag to axis” in the “Translate handle” drop-down list.

These two as you can see are solvable problems, but if you're coming from Max, you're likely to encounter other less solvable problems about Sub-D modeling in Houdini.

Thank you! Both solutions worked right from the start.

You mentioned less solvable problems with Sub-D modeling. What do you mean?

St.

Lots of unimplemented RFEs. It's a long conversation, but you keep testing and exploring, maybe you'll find the current tools and workflows satisfactory for your needs (doubtfull if you're a proficient Max modeler). For problems you encounter post here, some can be solved with vex or workarounds and whatever you feel it's not acceptable, you can always file RFEs to stack them on top of mine and others.

Oh, and to not miss this opportunity to fire some flack at sidefx - as you can see and you will discover even more, some defaults in Houdini are not traditional artist friendly. Mind you, for the technical artist who works mostly in the netview, most of these wouldn't make a difference either way, but the argument I've been given from staff, is that you can create your own defaults. As if that's a good reason to not have sensible factory defaults. Of course, how would I know what's sensible or not…

Thanks for the input

Another question: How do I slide points/vertices along edge they are on? Said edge is not in any way aligned with the world coordinates.

Well, my “input” is that you should read the docs and do some experiments of your own. It's not vex or hython (plenty of people to help you there) so a bit of trial&error will merely tone up your mind muscles.

Thanks again
Reading docs and experimenting it's exactly what I've been doing before I posted this question.
Finally I found how to do it for one vertex by detaching geometry from gizmo and aligning it to the edge I want the vertex to move along. Making it happen for multiple vertices following different edges at the same time is still an unknown.

St.

See? Reading docs and experimenting pays off. I'm a bit confused as to why you had a problem with that in the first place, since it's based on exactly the tools/workflow I explained previously.

Regarding “making it happen for multiple vertices” (which are actually points, vertices are something else in Houdini ad most other 3d packages (read about it, it's important) - are you coming from 3ds Max?), you may want to check the “slide on surface” feature, the 2nd one when in edit mode. Most likely it'll not yield the result you're after, but it might prove useful in some circumstances.

If you have a theoretical solution for your problem, make sure you submit a RFE to Support, along with any images, explanations and w/e they'll need to be able to file a comprehensive feature request so that the devs can actually understand and implement it.

edit: just re-read your first post; you are coming from 3ds Max… 3dSM is like a senile old person - it has some wisdom, but one should be very careful in interpreting and applying said wisdom.